Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Fluoridation of water in Uintah County has been a hot topic of debate over the last month and one that has come to an end. According to Uintah County Clerk/Auditor Mike Wilkins, the sponsors of the initiative emailed Wilkins informing him that they had discontinued gathering signatures and would not be turning in their packet. Monday was the deadline for signature packets. Wilkins had received the application to gather signatures for “Fluoridation of the public water supplies for the Central Utah and the Ashley Valley Water Districts of Uintah County” earlier this year. The application had five sponsors including local dentists and doctors. If the group had acquired the required 1,618 signatures, the question of whether to fluoridate public water would have been included on the November 2018 election ballot. Shortly after the sponsors began gathering signatures, a group of locals organized an effort to shut down the water fluoridation pursuit. The group gathered a following on their Facebook page under Uintah County Citizens Against Public Water Fluoridation and held multiple public meetings about their efforts. Wilkins did not specify any reason as to why the sponsors of the initiative discontinued their effort.